Black Hawk Down (2006, Blu-ray Disc)

Believe it or not, I actually missed seeing Black Hawk Down when it was showing in theaters. I had heard so many good things about it that I eagerly anticipated its DVD release date. When I acquired the DVD, I certainly was not disappointed!! Black Hawk Down is excellent in almost every way. It s tough. It s gritty. It s realistic. It graphically depicts the supreme patriotism and dedication to duty shown by the young men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, against the backdrop of an intense and violent armed struggle with a fanatic and unpredictable foe...

A BRIEF SYNOPSIS:

For those unfamiliar with the story of Black Hawk Down, this film is based on an actual historical event specifically the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, in October, 1993. U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators were among American forces stationed there. Their assigned mission: bring various warring Somali factions to heel, so that United Nations humanitarian workers could distribute food to Somalia s starving population. They were to do this as peacefully as possible; their rules of engagement prohibited them from firing their weapons unless fired upon first by Somalis.

On October 3, 1993, a small force of Rangers and Deltas were sent into Mogadishu via Black Hawk helicopter and a convoy of Humvee vehicles. Their mission was to apprehend two of Somali war lord Mohamed Farrah Aidid s top lieutenants. The city was already in a near state of anarchy, with several factions fighting each other, and all factions itching to get into a fight with American troopers. Soon after the Black Hawks took off from Mogadishu s airport, Aidid s followers received a tip-off that American troops were on the way. They responded with alacrity. Somali civilians by the thousands, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), and other light and medium weapons, manned roadblocks, rooftops, and any other advantageous location they could find. They were going to give the hated Americans the fight of their lives.

The mission began on a promising note, and initially looked like it would be a quick, quiet, and efficient success. However, almost from the minute the Army Rangers began rappelling down ropes from the Black Hawks, they came under intense enemy fire. The Rangers and Deltas were successful in capturing Aidid s lieutenants but at a heavy cost. Within an hour of the mission s start, Somali rebels had managed to shoot down two Black Hawks, disable two others, and send Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight s ground convoy reeling blindly through the streets of Mogadishu under a relentless hail of bullets, RPGs, and other small- and medium-arms fire. What began as a routine mission that should have taken no more than an hour, became instead a protracted, 22-hour long battle that resulted in 19 American deaths, and (at least by some estimates) as many as 1,000 Somali casualties.

MY EVALUATION:

Black Hawk Down is a very good depiction of what happened in Somalia on October 3, 1993. I had read Mark Bowden s book of the same name (upon which the movie is based) before watching the film. It's true that many events in the movie have been, of necessity, condensed; others have been chronologically altered in order to adapt a 400-page book into a two and one-half hour film. Still, I think director Ridley Scott and his crew did an admirable job of conveying the essence of what actually happened on that fateful and tragic October day.

Although the acting is by no means Oscar-worthy, it s very good indeed. Because Black Hawk Down is more focused on depicting the events of the day, rather than the people who carried out those events, There are no real standouts in the cast. That being said, every one of the actors played their roles with a superb level of professionalism and an obvious dedication to showing the heroism, sacrifice, and dedication to duty shown by these young men when placed under the most adverse of circumstances.

The film's special effects are breath-taking in their realism. Combat scenes (which take up nearly 80 percent of the movie) are among the best I've seen in any war film of recent years... including the critically acclaimed early scenes in Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan. Many scenes in Black Hawk Down are very bloody indeed. They're pretty tough to take, especially if you re a viewer who feels uncomfortable with a lot of blood and gore. As sanguinary as those scenes are, I don t consider them to be unnecessarily gratuitous, but rather an accurate reflection of what war is really like. In that regard, Black Hawk Down is very similar to Saving Private Ryan. Still, viewers be warned: if you're squeamish, Black Hawk Down is not, in all likelihood, a movie for you.

I didn't find very much to criticize in Black Hawk Down, but if anything deserves criticism, it s probably the film's barely adequate character development. The screen writers did make a "kinda-sorta" attempt to introduce us to some of the main characters, especially Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett); Captain Mike Steele (Jason Isaacs); Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore); Major General William Garrison (Sam Shepard); Sergeant First Class Jeff Sanderson (a fictional composite of Delta Master Sergeant Paul Howe, played by William Fichtner); and Specialist Grimes (a fictional composite of Army Specialist John Stebbins, played by Ewan MacGregor). Trouble is, we never really get to know these men and what actually "made them tick." Despite the horrific plight of the protagonists, it was difficult at times for me to really empathize with the men as individuals; I sometimes found myself viewing the film with a rather cool and dispassionate eye, an attitude I attribute to the filmmakers' failure to draw me fully into the lives of the men depicted in the film.

MY VERDICT: Despite a few flaws, Black Hawk Down is an excellent film, and certainly one of the better war films of recent years. The men whose lives are depicted in Black Hawk Down are genuine heroes. Their story of exemplary valor and dedication to duty is one that needed telling, lest it be lost in the maelstrom of more recent current events. Fortunately, Ridley Scott and his crew, and the actors who appeared in Black Hawk Down, have told that story in a manner that does great honor to those who fought and died in Somalia on that tragic October day.

THE DVD: "Extras" provided:

* Widescreen (2.35:1 aspect ratio) format.
* Subtitles in 4 languages (English, French, Chinese, Thai)
* Audio tracks in 2 languages (English 5.1, French) Dolby Digital.
* Scene selections
* Black Hawk Down: On the Set featurette
* Theatrical trailers, filmographies, and production notes